All posts tagged Architecture

‘I’ll tell you, what is more important than height is beauty,’ says Jon Pickard of architectural firm Pickard Chilton.

Jon Pickard, 58, is a co-founding principal of the architectural firm Pickard Chilton. This week Pickard Chilton released its design for a 32-story Milwaukee tower to be owned and occupied by Northwestern Mutual and developed by Hines. It would be the city’s tallest office tower to be constructed in more than 20 years.

Pickard Chilton also designed the recently completed Devon Energy Center in Oklahoma City. Prior to founding Pickard Chilton, Mr. Pickard was a design collaborator with Cesar Pelli on the 1,483-feet-tall Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (This interview has been edited for clarity and length.)

WSJ: How did your Midwestern roots inform how you approached the design of the Milwaukee tower?

Mr. Pickard: I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. I don’t want to be hokey here but there is a kind of Midwestern pragmatism that I understand and which is part of Northwestern Mutual. They’re going to do things that make sense. That resonated with me. Read More »

Mortgage Rates End Year Under 4%: Average fixed mortgage rates in the U.S. over the past week finished the year near all-time lows, with the 30-year home loan at 3.95%.

Australia: First house Price Rise in 2011: Australian monthly house prices rose for the first time in a year in November, but concern remains that a deterioration in prices across the country will resume next year.

Top Architects Go Local: In Arizona, a house that blends into the desert. In Chicago, walls of iron and steel. A group of in-demand designers is putting a new twist on regional architecture. Inspired by the Ozarks.

Dubai Fund Transfers U.S. Property: Dubai Investment Group is closing its New York office and transferring control of its $1.1 billion U.S. real estate portfolio to a private equity firm co-founded by Mark Walsh, the former head of Lehman Brother’s real estate operation.

Architecture: Modern Planes in Spain: The weather, architecturally speaking, continues to be cloudy in Spain. But in Madrid’s Pozuelo de Alarcón suburb, the skies look clear from the offices of A-cero, an architecture studio that is bucking the trend by breaking the traditional mold.

Home Prices Keep Dropping: U.S. home prices fell in nearly three-quarters of metropolitan areas in the third quarter and the national median price dropped 4.7% as the housing market continued to show weakness.

Lawmakers Target Fannie, Freddie Pay: U.S. lawmakers are seeking to rein in pay for executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, arguing that taxpayer funds shouldn’t be spent on bonuses at the two government-controlled mortgage firms.

Churches Find the End Is Nigh: Real-estate owners aren’t the only ones losing their properties to foreclosure. The past few years have seen a rapid acceleration in the number of churches losing their sanctuaries because they can’t pay the mortgage.

GOP Feels Heat on Loan Guarantees: A push by Republican lawmakers to end government backing for home mortgages is meeting resistance from the housing industry, a longtime ally of the party.

Study Ranks Hong Kong Homes Most Expensive: In the third quarter of 2010, Hong Kong’s median home price, $331,138 was 11 times higher than the median household income, putting the city last among 325 cities in an affordability survey.

Gehry Leaves Risks to the Kids: Frank Gehry’s latest creation gives the New World Symphony in Miami a permanent new home. It’s a safe design, with emphasis on the interior experiences rather than exterior flourishes. Read More »

Hong Kong Measures Threaten Big Projects: Signs are mounting that government measures aimed at taking the speculative heat out of Hong Kong’s residential-property market are pushing some buyers to the sidelines, hitting sales of some big new projects. Read More »